The Rev. Jimyo Lisa Ferworn enjoys a Kinhin, a meditative walk, on her property in Richland township.
Buddhist Terms
Sources: www:tendai-lotus.org
Information: for more information about the dharma center and the Rev. Jimyo: call 269-343-2947
A Richland Township woman recently returned from Hawaii, but she didn't go there for a vacation, instead Lisa M. Ferworn spent two weeks preparing for a full Buddhist ordiation precepts, received in a July 2 ceremony at the Tendai Buddhist Mission in Honolulu.
Tendai is a 1,200 year old Japanese sect. Its disciples examine their minds, believing it is the best way to discover their highest potential for spiritual awakening and realization.
The Tendai sect is relatively new to the United States, and there are only a few registered Tendai priests in the country. Ferworn, who has a contract job at Pfizer Inc. said.
As a Tendai Priest, her new name is the Rev. Jimyo Lisa M. Ferworn. Jimyo means "light of compassion,"and compassion is the highest teaching of Buddhism, she said.
The ordination ceremony, or "Shukke Tokudo" was conducted my Archbishop Ryoko Nishioka, the sect's second highest official,authorized by Archbishop Ryokan Ara of the Hawaii mission, and witnessed by a number of Tendai archbishops and priests.
"The ceremony was awesome. The temple os gorgeous and it's hard to describe the feelings to it," Ferworn said.
The event formally recognized Rev. Jimyo as a registered Tendai priest.
In that role, she conducts services each Sunday morning at Mitsudo-Ji, or hidden Path Temple, a dharma center at her family's wooded 10-acre property between Richland and Kalamazoo. The services focus on the Tendai daily devotional service, Shikan meditation, lotus sutra, mantra practice and discussion.
The services have helped Thomas phillips of Portage to better follow Tendai Buddhism, he said.
"You just can't interpret things the way you want to, because you may be interpreting the wrong thing. That's why monks and priests can steer you on the right path," Phillips said.
He and Ferworn were friends thaat discovered Buddhism about the same time, but independently explored it.
"I was surprised to hear she was a Reverend," Phiilips said. "That's when I decided to attend her services."
The Rev. Jimyo "teaches you techniques on meditatin... int the Buddhist concept, she helps us through out thought processes," he said.
Ferworn's journey into Tendai Buddhism began more that eight years ago.
"I had walked away from my Christian roots about 14 or 15 years before that...and during that time I was agnostic. I knew there had to be something else, but wasn't sure quite what it was...When I read Buddhist material, I thought it made sense. It just clicked.
She formally became deshi, or disciple, of Buddhism six years ago. She found a Tendai teacher, the Rev. jion Prosserm through a contact at a martial arts class. Her instructin required a number of trips to Minneapolis, where Prosser's family lived.
"One of the things I thought was so awesome about the sect is that it had a lot of things to offer," Ferworn said. "In Tendai, we believe ...that all Buddhist [teachings] are good." The buddha taught different messages because he was talking to different groups at different times [with different capacities], she said.
"There is nothing wrong with someone who does a devotional practice or meditation practice like Zen. But we also do esoteric practices and devotional practice, which is a little different."
Her rituals and devotional and meditations practices, which she sets aside more that two hours for each day, have made here a more patient and compassionate person, Ferworn said.
" I used to be a very impatient, rude person,"she said. "You have to have some belief to start with that the teachings made sense. But then (as you do more practices), more of them come into place for what you do."
To become a priest, Ferworn had to complete numerouos week-long priivate retreats. Structured by her teacher, they included a vow of silence, rising at 2 A.M., a series of rituals and time spent in self-study and reading.
"It was a very strict regime," she said. "You have to kind of wear yourself down pysically."
She will still need to go through Gyo, a time of stringent training for Priests, usually done for tow months in Japan. Instead, because she is a part-time unpaid priest, Ferworn will probably complete Gyo during intense shorter periods.
But all of the personal sacrifice is worth it, Ferworn said. "It's all a labor of Love."
Her goal is to provide a place where Amerian Tendai Buddhism can gather to gain insight and stregnth from each other.
"And if someone who is Japanese and Buddhist would like to come, there are alwasy welcome. I would wlecome their freindship," she said.
As Buddhists, meeting together is important because "you can learn meditation from books, but the interaction with other people that have gone through it is almost essential...they have to get some other feedback. And there's a group energy that I can't explain in words, really," she said.
Claudia Linsley covers religion. She can be reached at 966-0689 or clinsley@battlecr.gannett.com
Originally published August 13, 2005
